There also some other informal meeting alternatives commonly held in business settings.

■Breakfast Meeting

This alternative is especially good for those who are used to having a cup of coffee to start a day. The breakfast meeting could last half an hour to forty minutes in a café nearby the office. It is particularly efficient when your schedule is already full but you have to “squeeze a meeting in”.

■Lunch Meeting

Alternatively, it is also very useful to have a lunch meeting in the company’s dinning-room. The host of the meeting may cater tea and some sandwiches, or a mini buffet. If it is more formal, attendees may be served with menus and are able to select their own choices. According to business dinning etiquette, the most important guest sits on the right of the host and the second important one sits on the left of the host.

The host of the meeting is in charge of the topic and “starting the meeting”. He/she is also in charge of facilitating the conversation so that to fulfill the meeting agenda. The host also ends the meal by indicating he/she has finished the meal, rising and thanking everyone for coming. The host sees the guests out.

■Tea Meeting

A tea meeting is generally held from 4:00 p.m. or later and people usually head home after it. Tea meeting is also very efficient because it may save the time spent traveling to and fro for lunch meetings.

Just like the business meal meetings, who pays depends on the relationship. If it is with a client, the host picks up the tab. But the check is usually split when it is a meeting among coworkers.